Analysis by Alex
At a glance
Top 5 Scorers
| Player | Games | Average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Gawn | 23 | 113.3 | 2 |
| Josh Dunkley | 23 | 107.5 | 9 |
| Zach Merrett | 22 | 102.8 | 16 |
| Dayne Zorko | 23 | 101.5 | 20 |
| Jack Sinclair | 23 | 100.8 | 24 |
Season Summary
To quote Jordan:
“The least dominant, most dominant season we’ve had.”
Only 2 losses for the year ties the Defenestrators (2017), the Chiefs (2019), and the Soldiers (22 & 23) for the least in a season. While that looks like complete domination of the league, this was the first time of the 5 that this has happened, but the team didn’t score the most points for the season. With the Roughnecks scoring 147 more points across the H&A season, the luck was on Jordan’s side for getting the right match ups on the right weeks.
Luck is only part of it however. Having the list is one thing, but making it come together through the draft, trades and waivers is the only way to win it all, and Jordan took full advantage of every part of it to create this team. Make no mistake, they are here for a good time, not a long time with the ages on this list, but he is going to enter 2026 again as a favourite to win it all.
Season Grade: A+
All-Australians
3: Josh Dunkley, Zac Merrett, Sam Darcy
DangerGawn Votes
| Rank | Player | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Dayne Zorko | 11 |
| 16 | Zach Merrett | 10 |
| 22 | Josh Dunkley | 9 |
| 50 | Toby Nankervis | 4 |
| 57 | Josh Daicos | 4 |
| 58 | Tom Green | 4 |
| 60 | Sam Darcy | 4 |
| 70 | Steele Sidebottom | 3 |
| 80 | Reilly O’Brien | 3 |
| 83 | Jeremy Cameron | 3 |
| 91 | Chad Warner | 2 |
| 93 | Brad Hill | 2 |
| 101 | Caleb Daniel | 2 |
| 113 | Callum Mills | 1 |
| 114 | Mitch Georgiades | 1 |
Pre-Season Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | GP | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 17 | Jack Crisp | 18 | 84.06 |
| 3 | 22 | Jack Graham | 15 | 83.27 |
| 3 | 27 | Reilly O’Brien | 15 | 94.07 |
| 3 | 30 | Brad Hill | 10 | 76.9 |
| 4 | 37 | Elliot Yeo | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 42 | Mitch Georgiades | 9 | 75 |
| 5 | 46 | Nick Haynes | 15 | 79.4 |
| 5 | 47 | Mark Blicavs | 6 | 65.67 |
| 7 | 64 | Ryan Maric | 14 | 75.29 |
| 8 | 77 | Steele Sidebottom | 15 | 91.4 |
| 9 | 87 | Jake Stringer | 2 | 43 |
| 10 | 97 | Steven May | 7 | 66.14 |
| 11 | 102 | Judd McVee | 3 | 50.33 |
| 11 | 107 | Callan Ward | 1 | 88 |
| 12 | 112 | Travis Boak | 5 | 74.8 |
| 12 | 117 | Blake Hardwick | 3 | 61.67 |
| 13 | 122 | Riley Bice | 6 | 70.33 |
| 13 | 127 | Lachie Schultz | 3 | 76 |
| 14 | 137 | Max Hall | 20 | 64.1 |
| 15 | 147 | Will Hayward | 6 | 65 |
| 16 | 157 | Liam Reidy | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | 177 | Darcy Tucker | 1 | 50 |
Most Inspired Selection
Pick 77 – Steele Sidebottom
A shout out to the first 4 picks made by MSHB – a clear plan of getting the best available players, done just right. Had the opportunity to take a highly rated rookie at pick 17, but stuck true to his guns and went for as many points as possible to try and bring home his second premiership. While these picks were all solid, the greatest pick is the old timer in Sidebottom. Every year there is an old guy that teams all avoid as surely the cliff is coming, but just like how Max Kellerman was wrong about Brady’s cliff in 2016 (those who know, know) we all seem to make this collective assumption about an older player being past it before someone takes the risk and benefits greatly. Sidebottom was once again a force to be reckoned with. An average of 91 makes him a walk up start for any team, and so to achieve this in the 8th round when most people are just trying to find depth cover is a terrific result.
Trades
| 29 July 2025 | MSHB | Max Gawn Jack Sinclair Defenestrators Round 10 pick |
| Defenestrators | Tom Green MaherShalalHashBaz Round 5 pick |
| 27 July 2025 | MSHB | Christian Petracca |
| Midnight | Reilly O’Brien Daniel Rioli Lachie Cowan |
| 27 July 2025 | Soldiers | Chad Warner MSHB Round 3 pick |
| MSHB | Lachie Neale Ben Keays Soldiers Round 10 pick |
| 3 July 2025 | MSHB | Scott Pendlebury |
| Devils | Darcy Wilson |
| 2 February 2025 | Soldiers | MSHB 2016 Round 1 pick |
| MSHB | Caleb Daniel Love Sparkles Round 3 pick (pick 30) |
| 22 January 2025 | Soldiers | Elijah Hewett MSHB Round 17 pick (pick 167) |
| MSHB | MSHB Round 5 pick (pick 47) Soldiers Round 13 pick (pick 122) |
| 12 January 2025 | Soldiers | Jake Soligo |
| MSHB | Solomon’s Soldiers Round 3 pick (pick 22) Roughnecks Round 5 pick (pick 46) |
The Cambridge dictionary definition of the phrase all-in is “showing a lot of determination and a willingness to take a big risk in order to achieve something.” This definition has recently had an addendum added which reads “See also: Mahershalalhashbaz 2025 Dangergawn season”.
This is the only fair way to consider the season of trades that was this season, and considering only a solitary handball separated the joy of victory from the anguish of defeat (to a family member no less), the gamble to go all in at the trade deadline gave a glorious result for the one who was determined to make it happen.
Preseason was all about condensing a good list into 20 keepers, and trading out some that were borderline in that group in order to get assets to take to the draft. Soligo and Hewett to the Soldiers for a round 3 and 2x round 5 picks gave some extra stock in the draft to Jordan, and then effectively getting Daniel from a pre-draft deal as a 21st keeper meant this team was loading up right from the start.
A quiet April to June, and then bringing in the veteran Pendlebury for the youngster Wilson showed his hand. This was the year to win it all. Bring on the trade deadline.
And what a trade deadline it was. Out go Chad Warner, Tom Green, Lachie Cowan, and some decent picks, in come many senior players to lead a premiership push. Gawn returned, Petracca and Neale each came into their 4th Dangergawn club, while Sinclair and Keays gave some needed points in different positions. All this came together to create the winning Grand Final score, so even with the youth and picks all traded out, this trade run as a whole was a win to coach Burgess jr.
List at end of 2025 season
| Player | Age | GP | AVG | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Gawn | 33 | 23 | 113.3 | 2 |
| Josh Dunkley | 28 | 23 | 107.5 | 9 |
| Zach Merrett | 29 | 22 | 102.8 | 16 |
| Dayne Zorko | 36 | 23 | 101.5 | 20 |
| Jack Sinclair | 30 | 23 | 100.8 | 24 |
| Finn Callaghan | 22 | 20 | 99 | 29 |
| Lachie Neale | 32 | 20 | 94.6 | 41 |
| Josh Daicos | 26 | 23 | 94.2 | 42 |
| Toby Nankervis | 31 | 22 | 91.1 | 52 |
| Christian Petracca | 29 | 23 | 90.3 | 58 |
| Callum Mills | 28 | 12 | 90 | 60 |
| Scott Pendlebury | 37 | 20 | 86.6 | 76 |
| Steele Sidebottom | 34 | 21 | 86 | 79 |
| Caleb Daniel | 29 | 23 | 85 | 84 |
| Jack Crisp | 31 | 23 | 84.2 | 90 |
| Jeremy Cameron | 32 | 23 | 83.7 | 92 |
| Jack Graham | 27 | 18 | 82.7 | 99 |
| Sam Darcy | 22 | 17 | 82.2 | 103 |
| Darcy Wilmot | 21 | 23 | 79.6 | 114 |
| Ben Keays | 28 | 23 | 79.3 | 116 |
| Lachie Schultz | 27 | 14 | 76.6 | 137 |
| Nick Haynes | 33 | 23 | 75.7 | 141 |
| Travis Boak | 37 | 16 | 75.6 | 142 |
| Ryan Maric | 21 | 22 | 75.2 | 146 |
| Andrew McGrath | 27 | 23 | 74.9 | 149 |
| Brad Hill | 32 | 22 | 74.5 | 151 |
| Peter Wright | 29 | 19 | 73.9 | 157 |
| Steven May | 33 | 16 | 72.1 | 166 |
| Mark Blicavs | 34 | 22 | 70.9 | 173 |
| Massimo D’Ambrosio | 22 | 23 | 70.4 | 177 |
| Mitch Georgiades | 23 | 23 | 69.3 | 186 |
| Dan Houston | 28 | 19 | 66.8 | 206 |
| Charlie Curnow | 28 | 18 | 65.8 | 217 |
| Riley Bice | 24 | 16 | 56.7 | 336 |
| Luke Cleary | 23 | 16 | 51.8 | 409 |
| Caleb Mitchell | 21 | 1 | 51 | 418 |
| Conor Stone | 23 | 7 | 50.9 | 419 |
| Logan Evans | 19 | 10 | 49.4 | 438 |
| Rory Atkins | 31 | 3 | 43 | 513 |
| Luke Beecken | 24 | 1 | 10 | 667 |
Player to watch in 2026
Christian Petracca
There are many players on this list that I will be keen to see how their 2026 looks, however in narrowing it down, Petracca comes out on top. A new club, with a new midfield dynamic to adjust how he plays/scores within that Gold Coast system. Jordan will be hoping beyond hope that Petracca can spend enough time forward to gain that elusive DPP status, as that would go a long way to giving him the best chance at going back to back. Have we seen the best of Petracca, or is that best yet to come? Only time will tell.
Honourable mention to Charlie Curnow, also at a new club. I know if I was a key forward having Gulden, Warner, Mills and Heeney delivering the ball to me would get me a little bit excited, so we’ll see if this converts into a big fantasy ceiling as well. HM also to Callaghan, Wilmot and S Darcy, as how they all continue to develop could be fun to see.